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Dear Dr. Vinny,

Is it feasible to fill up a polythene bag with water, immerse a bottle of wine completely in it, seal it and place it in the refrigerator for long-term storage? This way, there is no risk of the cork drying up although the temperature may be a bit low.

—Philip C., Malaysia

Dear Philip,

As I recently pointed out, a refrigerator isn’t the most ideal place to store wine. It’s designed to be cold and dry enough to preserve leftover potato salad and my mustard collection, but that means it might be too cold and too dry for long-term wine storage. One of the biggest concerns is that the dry climate can compromise a cork’s integrity.

Your suggested solution is interesting. It reminds me of some of the recent experiments with storing wine underwater. It looks promising, but is it really practical? It could be a messy way to store and serve wine, assuming you don’t mind the likelihood of your labels degrading from all that water. But I’m all for experimentation, especially if you promise to write back with your results.

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